Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 4.9% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shot up 4.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $170.98 and last traded at $169.87. 8,607,562 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 16% from the average session volume of 10,292,622 shares. The stock had previously closed at $161.95.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PANW. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Mizuho set a $200.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.95.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $138.61 billion, a PE ratio of 93.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $161.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.58.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.81 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.40, for a total value of $177,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 83,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,418,150.40. This trade represents a 1.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora bought 68,085 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $146.87 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,643.95. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,434,276.78. This represents a 24.73% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 149,552 shares of company stock worth $27,779,427. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after buying an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $948,000 after buying an additional 3,275 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $713,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Flow Traders U.S. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,283,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,021 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.